Opposition leaders have urged Kenya’s President, Mwai Kibaki, to dissolve his government and call an election after the publication of a dossier implicating key ministers in corruption.
The government, weakened after losing a referendum in November, faces a crisis after allegations by the former anti-corruption tsar John Githongo that the vice-president and three ministers plotted to siphon off public funds. He also alleges that Kibaki knew about the deals.
Mutula Kilonzo, an MP and spokesperson for the Orange Democratic Movement, an opposition coalition, said on Monday that elections scheduled for 2007 should be brought forward.
”This goes all the way to the top, including the vice-president and the minister of finance, so we consider it an extremely serious matter. The president should call fresh elections so the people can elect a government they trust in the task of eliminating corruption.”
When he was elected three years ago, Kibaki promised a fresh start after the corruption of Daniel arap Moi. But Kenyans are disappointed that the government remains hit by scandals while there is drought and starvation in northern Kenya. The new allegations will further damage donors’ confidence. But despite attacks on sleaze by former British high commissioner Sir Edward Clay, Britain remains a major donor, with £55-million announced last week for education and £3-million for the drought-afflicted region.
Mwalimu Mati, executive director of anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International Kenya, said: ”The one thing people thought would definitely disappear [after the election] is grand corruption at the elite level. We’re talking about a country that’s looking for famine relief. If we have grand corruption, then we’re not going to have development because resources are scarce; you can’t have both.”
The watchdog is due to publish a report next week chronicling official waste, including $10-million on limousines for ministers, senior officials and judges in the first 18 months of the new government. Mati said: ”Ministers inherited vehicles from the Moi government. Why do they go out and buy vehicles every time there is a change of government?”
The latest political crisis follows allegations made by Githongo, who resigned as anti-corruption tsar last year.
In a dossier seen by The Guardian, he accuses former internal security minister Chris Murungaru; the Finance Minister, David Mwiraria; the former justice minister Kiraitu Murungi; and Arthur Moody Awori, the Vice-President, of being implicated in corruption. He gives details of 17 public procurement contracts that drew his suspicions, including orders for naval vessels and security software.
Githongo claims Mwiraria and Murungi put pressure on him to call off his inquiries into the Anglo Leasing scandal, which involved contracts worth £50-million for a passport computer system and forensic laboratory. The companies that won the contracts turned out to be bogus.
All four deny corruption. Murungi, justice minister when the Anglo Leasing scandal surfaced, issued a statement on Monday denying that he had tried to block Githongo’s inquiries: ”At no time during my tenure as minister for justice and constitutional affairs did I interfere with or obstruct any anti-corruption investigation.”
The government insists it is committed to fighting sleaze. The Justice Minister, Martha Karua, said: ”There will be no cover-up of any complicity in respect of any individual whatsoever.” — Guardian Unlimited Â